WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama and House Republicans began discussions Thursday on a GOP proposal to extend the nation's borrowing authority for six weeks, marking a new opening in the budget stalemate that risks a U.S. debt crisis.

At a White House meeting of the president and top House Republicans, Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) offered the proposal to extend U.S. borrowing authority in exchange for an agreement from Mr. Obama to negotiate on a broad range of budget issues.

The meeting ended inconclusively. But after weeks of stalemate and sniping, as well as a partial government shutdown that entered its 10th day Thursday, the inauguration of talks was a breakthrough that signaled a new openness on both sides.

Mr. Obama "didn't say yes, he didn't say no" to the GOP plan, said House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) after the meeting with Mr. Obama. "We put an offer on the table. We had a long, frank conversation about it, and we agreed to continue talking and to continue negotiating."

House Speaker John Boehner said at a press conference Thursday that he and Republican colleagues want to "offer the ability to move," including a temporary increase in the debt ceiling in return for talks with President Obama on the budget.

Just the glimpse of a path to avoiding an unprecedented U.S. default sent stocks soaring. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 323.09 points, or 2.2%, to 15126.07. Stocks also jumped higher in Asia Friday morning.

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A new poll shows that Republicans are bearing the brunt of public outrage over the budget impasse. The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found 53% of Americans blamed the GOP for the shutdown, compared with 31% who blamed Mr. Obama. The Republican Party's image has slumped to its lowest level in Journal/NBC polling, which dates to 1989, with more than twice as many people holding a negative image of the GOP as a positive one.

Until now, Mr. Obama had refused to negotiate until the government was reopened and the debt ceiling raised. Republicans, in turn, said those steps must be paired with a deficit-reduction plan and changes to the 2010 health care law that they knew Mr. Obama wouldn't accept.

While Republicans on Thursday initially proposed moving only to raise the debt limit, discussions broadened to include efforts to reopen the federal government.

After the 90-minute meeting, the White House said in a statement that Mr. Obama "looks forward to making continued progress" in breaking the stalemate. "After a discussion about potential paths forward, no specific determination was made" about next steps, the White House said.

The GOP debt limit proposal had left unclear how the two sides would reach agreement on a bill to fully fund federal agencies and reopen the government. But House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) said after the meeting that negotiators now were in talks to see if they could resolve both issues.

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In testimony to Congress, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew discusses why transparency is important as the U.S. approaches the debt ceiling on Oct. 17.

"We're trying to find out if there is a way to quickly settle the [government funding] questions so that we can...stop a shutdown,'' said Mr. Rogers.

According to a Democrat briefed on the meeting, Mr. Obama asked Republican leaders why the government needed to remain closed when both sides want to have budget discussions. Republicans said they would offer specific ideas for opening the government, which sent staff working into the night to discuss components of a compromise government spending bill.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) told Mr. Obama during the meeting that Republicans were willing to work through the weekend on a funding package to reopen the government next week, as long as the president agreed to let lawmakers and aides start longer-term budget talks, according to a person familiar with his remarks.

The Treasury has said lawmakers must raise the debt ceiling this month or it will be unable to pay all the nation's bills. A landmark comes Oct. 17, the day the Treasury says it will have exhausted emergency measures and be left with $30 billion on hand, which would last a week or two.

Mr. Boehner, after a morning meeting with House Republicans to unveil his new strategy, said, "I would hope that the president would look at this as an opportunity and a good-faith effort on our part to move halfway—halfway—to what he's demanded in order to have these conversations begin."

Republicans had been prepared to vote as early as Friday on the bill to raise the debt limit. Now, GOP aides say, action has been postponed pending the outcome of the new talks.

Republican leaders have treated the debt ceiling issue as related but distinct from the terms for funding the government. Pressure to resolve the debt ceiling has grown, in part due to increased nervousness in the financial markets and among businesses. Conservative Republicans, meanwhile, didn't want the government to reopen until they had extracted concessions from Mr. Obama on the health law, which they have been pushing to delay or dismantle.

Rep. Raul Labrador (R., Idaho) on Tuesday met with Mr. Cantor to make an offer: House conservatives could back a short-term extension of the country's borrowing authority as long as GOP leaders agreed to use the shutdown fight as the vehicle to oppose the health law.

The support from conservatives such as Mr. Labrador proved crucial in producing the GOP's breakthrough offer on the debt ceiling.

"We want to continue to fight on Obamacare," Mr. Labrador said Thursday. "The best way for us to do that is to separate the two issues…. When they get conflated, people are going to start caving."

Mr. Boehner's move met with mixed reaction from Senate Republicans. Some privately fumed that he had abandoned a long-standing party principle by agreeing to a debt-limit increase without any deficit-reduction conditions—and without finding a way to reopen the government.

"There is still some serious discussion within our caucus as to what the best strategy would be,'' said Sen. Dan Coats (R., Ind.). "A lot of us thought we were on a path to merging the debt limit and the continuing resolution."

Some Senate Republicans have been working with Democrats on a compromise that would resolve the impasses over both the debt ceiling and government shutdown.

The emerging deal would extend the debt limit and reopen the government with a one-year extension of current spending levels. It would also include two changes in the health law designed to win GOP support: a repeal of a tax on medical devices, and tightened procedures for checking individuals' eligibility for health insurance premium subsidies.

House GOP aides said their debt-ceiling proposal would include a permanent ban on the Treasury Department's use of extraordinary measures to avoid default.

The provision would block practices, used by Democratic and Republican administrations for decades, which have effectively allowed the Treasury to limit investments in pensions and other funds when the government bumps up against its borrowing limit. These steps have extended the time that Treasury could continue borrowing and paying the nation's bills while Congress debated terms for raising the debt ceiling.

The White House hasn't said whether it would accept the condition as part of any deal, though it effectively would mark a surrendering of tools it uses to avoid falling behind on federal payments.

From the Republicans jacking the rights and liberties of its constituents in the entire state of MI to the House Republicans playing Russian Roulette with the American public and its own kind... before we reopen anything, lets redo Ellis Island: We bust out the torches and bend Statue Liberty over (I hear copper is pretty easy to manipulate), add a little tarnished brass and rusty steal for a beat up kinda look, then, we add a statue of a buffed up, pimped out, Uncle Sam, crack pipe in mouth, pants down to ankles, directly behind our modified Liberty Statue... we can rid the island of any kind of literature or plaques or anything and just let people make of it what they will... because honestly, that's the image that pops into my head when I think about any of this and this country right now. It so wreaks of treason. It really really does, and Obama should handle it as such - I've seen a lot of "firsts" in my lifetime when it comes to this government, what's one more, like right now? Wouldn't that be great? "When you hold the public hostage and use their lives as a bargaining chip, you get tried as a traitor...." We'll charge Snowden with treason for running his yap about something they really shouldn't have been doing while the Russians honer him, yet Boehner will shut down the government, starve people, let people go homeless, attempt to destroy some of the lives of the very people that work for it, close all our parks, disrespect our veterans, pay themselves with our money to do it, endanger the safety and stability of women and children and people of disadvantage, etc, etc, etc, to the detriment of this country .... with no repercussions... if that isn't treason, I don't know what is... that this could be avoided makes what the House has done, and not the whole House, just those responsible for causing this mess, and for the reason that they did, was purposely malicious. Obama, at this point, should do exactly what baby Bush did... tell Congress where it can go and start signing in a bunch of executive orders as law, take the added step of bringing Boehner and friends up on charges of treason, then do the hokey pokey and turn himself around...

Business leaders, many who are stalwarts of the Republican party, are starting to panic because of the tea party's antics in the House. The antics that are threatening to derail the economy. Many in the Republican leadership are openly criticizing Cruz, et al, and yesterday's polls show that the Republican party took a dive off a cliff without a parachute.

And what do we have from many of the commentators here? Complete denial of the above.

"No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt: on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy of time more valuable." --George Washington, Message to the House of Representatives, 1793

"I ... place economy among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared. ... Taxation follows that, and in its turn wretchedness and oppression." --Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William Plumer, 1816

The Community Organizer and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate will surely save all those on the government teat from having to find a real job, further pushing our country into financial chaos. Fear will of course be his primary tool.

How quickly the low-information voters forget the fear preached by the socialists if the "Sequester" were actually passed. Anyone remember how devastating it was supposed to be to the economy? 750,000 jobs were going to be lost immediately. Which one of Barry's minions came up with number? Somehow we actually survived the sequester and the economy has improved.

Now we hear of the world-wide plaques that will result from not raising the debt ceiling, of not spending money we don't have. Seriously? But stand behind that presidential podium and spread the fear, it always works with the low-information voters. Especially when your government-run media peaches it 24/7.

NEW YORK -- Leonard Downie spent more than four decades at The Washington Post, including 17 years as the paper’s top editor, and has heard plenty of grumbling from reporters blocked from access to government information. “I’m used to journalists complaining,” he told HuffPost in an interview.

But after speaking to 30 veteran Washington journalists to prepare a Committee to Protect Journalists report, Downie said he was persuaded that concerns about lack of government transparency are legitimate. Those interviewed, he wrote, “could not remember any precedent” to the Obama administration’s aggressive crackdown on leaks and efforts to control information.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based journalist advocacy organization, released Downie’s findings Thursday in its first comprehensive look at press freedom in the United States: “The Obama Administration and the Press: Leak investigations and surveillance in post-9/11 America.”

This is Obama's big chance to tell the GOP to either raise the debt ceiling and reopen the entire government, with NO CONCESSIONS whatsoever, or take the default (ideally in the neck) and enjoy the bitter fruit of ideological purity. I personally hope he has what it takes to do so.

No reason to compromise here, especially when offered a 6-week window to "negotiate" that will just bring us back to the brink in time for Thanksgiving. GOP may as well have offered nothing.

All of these arguments are only theoretical to the millions who have been beaten down by "dot.com bust, 911 attacks, housing collapse", they are more willing to live by ever expanding deficits, higher taxes, better handouts, federal control,......... it all seams so "soothing" to them. But, even bigger storms are approaching,..... heath care chaos, losing one's doctor, shortages of medicine and treatments, higher costs, lower life expectancy. And even bigger will be the lack of any economic expansion to absorb the debt with growing inflation lowering everyone's standard of living and raising unemployment even higher. Expect a change in the "Polls" will be the only improvement for quite some time.

James,President Obama is a remarkable contrast to your failed Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whom would have shrank the office to fit his limited capacities, President Obama has brought intelligence, rectitude and good humour back to your White House, and Mitt Romney’s flip-floppery was a bad look for a Presidential candidate. It’s great to read how President Obama has started to revive the US reputation as great and civilized power across the world.

Uh, James? I realize that folks who think elrushbo is a pundit and Faux is news aren't known for reality-based thought but a real job is work that generates income whether in the public or private sector. I imagine you even benefit from those "unreal" public sector employees on occasion when you're using roads, turning on the shower at home, flying from point A to point B, listening to elrushbo, or even sending emails decrying the rampant socialism in America.

As for the Sequester, well Sonny, I can point you to a whole bunch of folks living on Native American reservations who have been suffering since the sequester began. I know folks who are pretty much on the edge of bankruptcy due to the sequester, and small private sector businesses that have cut employees, had to change expansion plans, or incur unexpected expenses not paying their vendors and creditors on time due to the sequester.

And if we don't have the money to spend, then neither do the corporations that benefit from daily and long term operations based on debt to the tune of $10 T and have much less of a guarantee of repaying their debts than does a sovereign nation - well at least when TP neoConfederates such as yourself aren't trying to kill the nation. Thoughts?

James,According to US political mythology you can go from a log cabin to the White House-provided the cabin is in US, so expect you also believe that the birth notices placed in the Honolulu papers on August 4th 1961 are totally fake too, and this evil piece of evidence was planted by conspirators intent on defrauding the American public.

Expect you also believe the only place for a black person in the Oval Office is serving afternoon tea as well.

Henry if constraining folks from spending money they don't have is correct, shouldn't our $10 T Corporate Debt market be closed down immediately inasmuch as those private sector companies have a fiduciary duty to bondholders not to put their money at risk and those companies have much less ability to guarantee their debt than the US government?

With all due respect, you are naive if you think republicans want to constrain spending. They just see an opportunity to cut entitlement spending under Obamas watch so they won't have to do it and appease the base when they control the government. They are still politicians, fully aware that seniors vote.

Ron, under the existing American health non-system we have had shorter life expectancy than other nations with single payer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy). As for losing one's doctors: I wasn't aware physicians primary desire was to make a million by 45 and retire at 60...at least not among the physicians I know. Shortages of medicines and treatments? Really? Every time I turn around I see a new physician-owned hospital opening and new meds advertised on tv. And as for unemployment? Hey the JOB CREATOR CLASS (tm) has decided to not do their jobs even though they have more than made a killing since 2001 and you're blaming government?

On the other hand, if Mitt had won, he could have simply put the TP neoConfederates in Congress on a yacht and sank it saving America for generations at one fell swoop - an claimed a loss on his taxes to boot! Now THAT would be classy.....

More non-responsive silliness. Indeed, as I've previously pointed out, had "The Obamanation" even meaningfully attempted to keep his campaign promises - I'll admit they were so ridiculous that it wasn't possible - America would be in far better shape than it currently is in.

An excellent example but one of "The Obamanation's" lies is his following statement:

"we intend to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office." - Barack Hussein Obama

Get a subscription to the WSJ or just read some of the headlines on Drudge..... the approaching storms he speaks of in some cases are already here. I too believe we're approaching a tipping point where the People will have had enough of these worthless pols - both parties mind you - but mainly the Democrats.

James, you seem to have long-term memory loss and need to get to a neurologist. When LBJ with the support of more than a few Republicans passed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts your buddy Dick Nixon and his campaign did a cynical turn and gathered up all the Southern Democrats and they became the GOP...so today we have the case where the TRUE inheritors of Lincoln's party are more likely to be Democrats and the TRUE inheritors of the slave-owners are likely to be the TP neoConfederates while the Democrats are slowly recruiting true Republicans tired of TP neoConfederate guerrilla tactics and government shut down.

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